Among the foreign traders, Thai ( Thailand) traders are in the majority. There are considerable numbers of foreign gem traders in the city too who have recognised the value of the gems found there. Most of the large-scale gem businessmen of Sri Lanka operate from Ratnapura. Gem pits common sights in the surrounding area. The people of the town depends on the gem trade. It was upgraded as a teaching hospital, with the establishment of Medical faculty in Sabaragamuwa university. It is also a post graduate training center for surgical and paediatric pg trainees. It also has two ICU units catering 12 ICU beds at the moment. It has theatre facilities for routine surgeries, and for 24/7 casualties. Ratnapura hospital, upgraded to a Teaching Hospital in early 2019, is equipped with three surgical units, three medical units, two orthopedic units, three Obstetrics and gynaecology units, two paediatrics units, an ENT unit, a neurology unit, a neurosurgical unit, a rheumatology unit, a urosurgical unit, a nephrology unit with dialysing facilities, a dermatology unit, a psychiatric unit, an A&E unit, and a cardiology unit. There were 29,159 registered voters in the 2006 local authorities elections. The council is elected by popular vote and has 15 seats. The city is governed by a municipal council headed by a mayor. In 1901, the town of Ratnapura had a population of 4,084, and by 2012, it had increased to 46,229, with Buddhists, Hindus, Christians and Muslims each constituting a significant portion of the population. Nearby Sinharaja Forest Reserve, Udawalawe National Park, Kitulgala, and Adam's Peak are especially popular among tourists. There is a well-established tourism industry in Ratnapura. Tea grown in this region is called low-country tea.
Large plantations of tea and rubber surround the city. Apart from gem mining, the city is known for the production of rice and fruit.
It is the centre of a long-established industry of precious stone mining including rubies, sapphires, and other gems. While candy produced from the jaggery palm is traditionally known in this region as ratnapura, it is more likely that the candy was named for the locale rather than vice versa. Over 2000 years ago, when the first Buddhist monks arrived here from the north eastern provinces of India namely Bodh-Gaya, Varanasi and Pataliputra, they not only brought with them the Buddhist religion, but since their teachings were mainly in Sanskrit and Pali they also influenced the local language. The name 'Ratnapura' is a Sanskrit word meaning "city of gems", from the Sanskrit words pura (town) and ratna (gemstone). It is located on the Kalu Ganga (Black River) in south-central Sri Lanka, some 101 km (63 mi) southeast of the country's capital, Colombo. It is the capital city of Sabaragamuwa Province, as well as the Ratnapura District, and is a traditional centre for the Sri Lankan gem trade. With the support of experienced technical staff, lecture room and auditorium equipped with required audio visual aids, residential facilities, demonstration sites with recommended good agricultural practices, St Joachim estate and tea factory and other infrastructural facilities available, the Center is capable of effective technology dissemination among the stakeholders in the region.Ratnapura ( Sinhala: රත්නපුර Tamil: இரத்தினபுரி) ("City of Gems" in Sinhala and Tamil) is a major city in Sri Lanka. With the opening of Galle, Deniyaya and Kalutara Extension centers for strengthening institute’s R & D and outreach activities on tea, this Centre, at present, caters to the advisory, extension and training needs of tea growers and producers in Ratnapura, Kegalle and Colombo districts. The Low country Center conducts its Research & Development activities in station and low country estates on four key subject areas viz., Plant Breeding, Agronomy, Entomology/ Nematology and Process Technology, with particular emphasis on Low country soil, environmental and tea quality aspects. The Low country Regional Centre of the Tea Research Institute was established in 1963 to cater to the technological and extension needs of the tea growers and producers in the Low country, which represents about half of the total extent of tea lands and majority of tea smallholders in Sri Lanka. Last updated on August 12th, 2020 at 07:32 am